I am hoping to recover from a horrific week of prognosticating. Although the teams I picked were in a decent position to win the games last week, including my beloved Jaguars, they didn't come through. Fortunately, the season is a marathon, not a sprint. Now on to my picks.
Jaguars (0-1) vs. San Diego (0-1)-Phillip Rivers and the Bolts have traditionally represented a house of horrors for the Jaguars. Over the past 5-6 years, Rivers and the Chargers passing game has absolutely shredded the Jaguars defense, not scoring less than 31 points per game IIRC. But I believe times they are a changin'. The Jaguars have had an infusion of defensive talent this offseason in particular, and it has already started to pay dividends. The Jaguars defense held one of the top 2-3 QBs in the game, Aaron Rodgers, to less than 200 yards passing. I noticed that there were very few passes of his where receivers were running wide open. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the Jaguars' defenders were in an excellent position to make a play on the ball, but were beaten by insanely accurate passes from a future Hall of Fame QB. While I am a Jaguars fan, I certainly do not slight Phillip Rivers when I say he is not quite as good as Aaron Rodgers. What's more, they have lost their best WR, Keenan Allen, for the season with a torn ACL. I think the Jaguars' secondary continues the good coverage, I think they manage to get a little more pressure on a less mobile Rivers, and the Jaguars pull it out on the West Coast.
Jaguars win 24-20.
Tacks (0-1) vs. Lions (1-0)-The tacks did a good job shutting down Adrian Peterson last week, holding him to an unheard of 30 something yards. I have to give credit where due, no matter how nauseating. The good news is they face a far more diversified offense with a far better QB than the Vikes had. Mariota cost the tacks 14 points with his turnovers in a Garrardian type performance, which was satisfying to see. I think he will be better this week, but so will the Lions' offense.
Detroit wins 28-17.
Chiefs (1-0) vs. Texans (1-0) Last year, the Chiefs proved to be a matchup nightmare for the Texans, crushing them in Houston in the playoffs. While Houston has added speed to the WR corps, I am still not ready to say they have bridged the gap, especially with Watt still recovering from his back injury. Based upon the clips I saw last week, he wasn't quite himself yet.
Chiefs win 23-20.
Colts (0-1) vs. Broncos (1-0)-While the Colts' O-Line performed better than expected against Detroit last week, they go up against a defense a couple of notches better in defending Super Bowl champion Denver. In Mile High. With Denver having ten days to prepare.
Broncos win 26-21.
Last week: 1-3
Overall: 1-3
Worst to 1st. Curse Reversed!
